


It's easier to say you're sorry from the passenger's side.

by bentnotbroken1



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: 2x06, F/M, Feelings, Missing Scene, betty tells jughead about the black hood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 12:56:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12748755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bentnotbroken1/pseuds/bentnotbroken1
Summary: After the unexpected ending to the drag race, Betty leaves with Jughead and comes clean about the real reason why she broke his heart.(Or the confession/conclusion I would have liked to see)





	It's easier to say you're sorry from the passenger's side.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first Riverdale/Bughead fic I've ever written. So, go easy on me y'all. (unbeta'd)

Lip tucked firmly between her teeth, Betty watched as the car carrying the most important men in her life disappeared from her view. 

She hated this. So much was riding on this race and she knew Jughead would be in an even bigger mess if he lost.

“They’ll be fine.”

She stopped biting her lip and looked over at her best friend. “I know. I’m just-”

“Worried,” Veronica finished, taking her hand. “I am too, but Jughead knows what he’s doing right?”

She thought of how he’d looked and acted before he’d gotten behind the wheel and sighed, “I hope so.”

It wasn’t much longer before they heard the rumbling of an engine, but something was wrong. Not enough time had passed. The crowd stirred, some prematurely celebrating, as Reggie’s car came into view. It was coming in too fast. Something was definitely wrong.

The sound of sirens followed the screech of tires as the Chevelle skidded to a stop and Archie and Jughead got out, shouting for everyone to scatter. Veronica rushed into her boyfriend's arms but Betty stayed where she was, silently watching as chaos erupted around them. One of the older Serpents, Tallboy if she remembered correctly, was advancing on Jughead. He apparently thought Jughead had called the sheriff, but he stood his ground and insisted he had nothing to do with it.

Then Archie stepped in. “It was my idea to call Keller.”

Betty closed her eyes, groaning inwardly at Archie’s words. This was  _ not  _ going to end well.

“What the  _ hell _ , Archie!”

Betty and Veronica exchanged a look as Jughead pushed his best friend back a step. The girls had never seen him this upset, so they knew getting between them was a bad idea. Instead, they stood back and watched.

Cars flew past them and the sound of sirens came even closer. They really needed to get out of there.

“Guys,-” she started, but it seemed the fight was already over.

Jughead just poked Archie in the chest hard before rushing around the car.

Veronica and Archie looked at her expectedly. Betty had come there with V, but she wasn’t leaving with her.

She opened the passenger door of Reggie’s car, pausing only for a moment to give Archie a pleading look when he looked like he was about to protest. 

“ _ Betty _ ,” Jughead hissed from the driver's seat. “Out or in, we gotta go.  _ Now _ .”

She slid into the seat and slammed the door just as he shifted into first and took off, leaving Archie in a cloud of dust. He turned down the road that led to Greendale, wanting to put as many miles between them and the fading sirens as he could.

Betty slowly fastened her seat belt and breathed deeply, the adrenaline waning the further they got. Neither of them said a word, for five miles. Betty didn’t dare and Jughead...well, he obviously wasn’t in the mood for words.  Anger, betrayal, and something she couldn’t name were coming off him in waves, his breath heavy and hands clenched around the wheel. She feared if she spoke and said the wrong thing she’d shove him right off the precipice he was teetering on.    

She had time. She could wait for him to make the first move.

She knew the moment the silence got to him as he sighed deeply and pulled off the side of the road. He shut off the car and stared forward for another minute before slowly turning to face her. “Why’d you get in the car, Betty?”

His tone and aggravated countenance chilled her, but she couldn’t blame him. What had  _ just  _ happened, what she had done to him, it would send anyone into a spiral.

Tired of all the lies, she replied honestly, “You didn’t need to be alone, Jug.”

“ _ I didn’t need to be alone _ ?” he repeated in a mocking fashion, “That’s funny, because it seems to me that you had _ no problem _ leaving me alone when I needed you the most!” That stung, even though she knew it to be true. “So what now? Are you going to tell me how much you  _ love  _ me again?” He laughed humorlessly. “Tell me how you supposedly dumped me to  _ protect  _ me?”

Her eyes filled with tears but she blinked them away. She always knew that this would be hard. She’d known from the moment she forged that stupid break up plan.

“I did do it to protect you. And I _do_ love you. More than anything.”

“Well, you have a fantastic way of showing it.” he grumbled. 

She looked down at her lap. "I didn't want anything to happen to you. You were in danger."

“What more could have happened to me, Betty? Huh? I was already going to Southside High,” he spat. “I was already _ waist deep  _ in Serpents. I was  _ already  _ one mistake,” he raised his pointer finger, “ _ one  _ misstep away from hospitalization. So tell me, what had you  _ so  _ convinced that breaking my heart when I was already hanging on by a thread, would protect me? What could  _ possibly  _ be worse than all that?”

Wiping the tears from her face she answered, “The Black Hood.”

The time in which his face changed from frustrated to surprised would have been comical if it had happened in any other situation. He licked his lips and shifted in his seat. “The Black Hood? What-”

“He  _ called  _ me, Jughead,” she said softly, her eyes never leaving his face,“He’s  _ been  _ calling me.”

His hand twitched, almost as if he’d stopped it from reaching for her. “Bets,-”

She shook her head to stop him. “Just let me get it out. I need to get it out.” He nodded minutely, so she took a breath and began, “He started calling me that night, told me...he told me he had Polly, that he could kill her easily if I didn’t comply with his demands. So I did. I did what he said, publishing that article about my mom because I didn’t know if she was safe. I thought it would end there but it didn’t. He wanted me…” she swallowed and balled her hands into fists, the action not going unnoticed by the boy listening, “He wanted to isolate me. I was supposed to push away my friends. God, the things I said to Veronica…” she bit her lip, “but he  _ threatened  _ them. He threatened  _ you _ . He told me he’d kill you and I couldn’t...I couldn’t take that risk. He  _ knew  _ things, Jug. He knew things about me and had his eyes on me all the time. If something happened to you…” Her eyes closed and she took a breath. “I had to end things between us. It was the only way.”

He swallowed hard. “But why Archie?” he asked, voice cracking, “why did you send  _ him _ ?”

She hated seeing him like this, broken and confused. “Because he knew about the Black Hood...and I knew if you saw me, you would  _ know  _ something was wrong. If I had called you, texted you...you would have known. You would have fought it and I didn’t know what else to do. So I asked Archie to do it...to just make it believable.”

He scoffed. “He made it believable alright.”

“I’m sorry, Jughead,” she said, “I never wanted to hurt you.”

An array of emotions flashed across his face as he silently stared at her.

“Say something,” she whispered, eyes searching his for any indication that he accepted her explanations. “Please.”

He inhaled deeply before turning from her and leaning back into his seat. “I need time, Betty...to process this.” He started the car, listening to the engine roar to life before saying more. “I understand why you did it...but it- it  _ crushed  _ me. I...I was a mess...irrational and numb...stupid.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “You know, I joined the Serpents that night. I would have had to join them anyway, but..I love you. I love you and I couldn’t even bare the thought of you hating me. I just...gave up. Being a Serpent was better than being alone.”

“Oh, Jug-”

“What’s done is done. We can’t go back.”

Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest and she lost her breath for a moment. She couldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to fix this...“I understand.”

“No, don’t do that,” he grabbed her hand, “ I don’t mean...I want us to be together, but it just won’t ever be the same as it was before.”

“I know.”

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and they both looked at each other. “Is that?” he asked, a mix of worry and anger crossing his face.

She slowly picked it up and looked at the Caller ID, taking a relieved breath when Veronica’s face stared back at her. “It’s, V.”

**_Where are you? I’m getting worried. Can you meet me at Pops?_ **

“What does she want?" he asked, eyebrows knitting in concern.

"She wants me to go to Pop’s.”

“Ok...ok. I’ll drop you off first. I need to get the car back to Reggie before he thinks I took off with it.”

She replied to the text and shoved her phone back in her pocket, smiling for the first time in days. “Thank you for letting me explain things.”

“Don’t think you’re off the hook yet, Betty Cooper,” he smirked, pulling back onto the road, “I still want to know why the hell you and Veronica were chasing after a JJ dealer.”

She groaned and placed her head in her hands. It was going to be a long day.


End file.
